Bahrain ‘workshop’ consolidates Trump ties, alienates Arab Street

Bahrain basked in a return to international prominence, as Manama hosted the 25-26 June Peace to Prosperity conference – the ‘economic workshop’ organised by White House senior adviser Jared Kushner as a first public step towards delivering US President Donald Trump’s “deal of the century” to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. So often overlooked as the smallest part of the GCC-3 alliance alongside its bigger neighbours Saudi Arabia and the UAE, Bahrain claimed to be playing a significant role in pursuing a major international relations goal.